06-27-2006, 05:49 AM
<b>India's economic report card </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Given the huge positive press that India has received in recent times, it is sobering to discover that India's per capita income is just a shade higher than that of sub-Saharan Africa, and about one-sixth that of Latin America.
Equally surprising is that 35% of India's population lives on less than $1 a day, which is comparable to Bangladesh's 36% and much worse than Pakistan's 17% and Sri Lanka's 6%.
What then is the basis of optimism for India?
It has everything to do with change.
To check this out statistically I pulled out WDI 1998 from my shelf. This gives data for mainly 1996 and so is unaffected by the East Asian crisis which started in 1997.
In 1996, India had a per capita income of $380, Pakistan $480, Bangladesh $260 and Sri Lanka $740.
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<b>India's next test: spreading prosperity </b>By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Why today BBC, CBS and CM are spitting India's report card with 90% reporting?
Equally surprising is that 35% of India's population lives on less than $1 a day, which is comparable to Bangladesh's 36% and much worse than Pakistan's 17% and Sri Lanka's 6%.
What then is the basis of optimism for India?
It has everything to do with change.
To check this out statistically I pulled out WDI 1998 from my shelf. This gives data for mainly 1996 and so is unaffected by the East Asian crisis which started in 1997.
In 1996, India had a per capita income of $380, Pakistan $480, Bangladesh $260 and Sri Lanka $740.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>India's next test: spreading prosperity </b>By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Why today BBC, CBS and CM are spitting India's report card with 90% reporting?